Racquet for tennis, badminton, squash, and like games with improved stringing means



p 14, 1965 J. R. LACOSTE 3,206,203

RACQUET FOR TENNIS, BADMINTON, SQUASH AND LIKE GAMES WITH IMPQRVED STRINGING MEANS Filed June 10, 1963 Tuveurofl. 4 m

United States Patent 3,206,203 RACQUET FOR TENNIS, BADMINTON, SQUASH,

AND LIKE GAMES WITH IMPROVED STRING- ING MEANS Jean R. Lacoste, 1 Ave. du Marechal Maunonry, Paris, France Filed June 10, 1963, Ser. No. 286,748 Claims priority, application France, June 19, 1962, 901,209 9 Claims. (Cl. 273-73) This invention relates to racquets for tennis, badminton, squash and like games.

Racquets are known which comprise an annular member secured within the periphery of the frame and formed with serrations which are used to position the strings of the racquet, which are strung between opposite sides of the annular member.

The present invention is concerned With improvements in such racquets, and, in particular, in the annular member and the means for its securing. In this specification the portions of annular member spaced from the frame and forming the base portions of the serrations are referred to as indentations, and the portion between any two adjacent but not collinear substantially straight portions within an indentation is referred to as the angle of the indentation. Indentations having but one angle are called triangular indentations, and indentations having two angles are called trapezoidal indentations. The shoulders of the racquet are the regions of the frame of the racquet distant from the ends of the major and minor axes of the playing area of the frame.

According to the present invention, I provide a racquet for tennis, badminton, squash or like games which comprises a resilient annular member conforming in general contour with that of the racquet frame, and positioned within the area defined by said frame, the said member being formed with indentations through which the strings of the racquet are passed and having angles at which the strings of the racquet are retained, and retaining means for the annular member engaging the apices of projections between the indentations for attaching the member to the frame, characterized in that at least some of the indentations provide only one angle for the retention ofa string. Other of the indentations may be of trapezoidal form, having a straight base portion substantially parallel to the portion of the frame at which it is situated, and providing two angles for the retention of strings. Triangular indentations may be provided at least at the shoulders of the racquet, and trapezoidal indentations at the regions of the ends of the major and minor axes of the stringed area of the racquet.

The angles of the indentations may be at different distances from the nearest point respectively on the frame.

A particular embodiment of the invention, as a tennis racquet, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a view of the frame of the racquet with its strings.

FIGURE la is a detail view of part of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 2 is a detail view of another part of FIG- URE 1.

Referring first to FIGURE 1 the frame 1 is formed of a metal tube of substantially figure-of-eight cross section bent to form the frame of the stringed area of the racquet, with elongations 2 and 3 running substantially parallel from the frame to form the shaft and handle of the racquet. A stay 25 is secured across the gap between the roots of the elongation. The stringing is attached to the frame 1 by means of a serrated resilient annular member 17 itself fastened to the frame 1 and stay 25 by a spiral 18.

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The parts of the annular member 17 situated in the regions of the ends of the major and minor axes of the frame are provided with trapezoidal indentations 19 while at the parts of the annular member situated near the shoulders of the frame the indentations 20 have only two sides, the smallest angle between the sides of any of these indentations being nearly 90, the sides being roughly parallel to the respective axes of the frame. This latter type of indentation are triangular indentations.

To position the strings within the frame the central uprights (between A and A) are first formed by passing a string through the bases of the trapezoidal indentations situated beside the top and the bottom of the frame successively. Then the string describes three overlapping rectangle spirals passing successively through triangular indentations 20 at the region of the shoulders 23 of the racquet and lastly the central spans (between B and B) are by passing the string through the trapezoidal indentations at the sides of the racquet.

The annulus 17 is relatively symmetrical with respect to the major axis of the frame, the displacement to allow the formation of the spirals 22 of string being provided by running string along the frame in the region of the shoulders 23 rather than any asymmetry of the annulus. However, extra triangular indentations 20d and 20e are provided near the top of the frame to enable the positioning of the supplementary string 24 close to the frame at a position particularly useful in the course of the game.

As is shown in the drawings the depths of the indentations differ. The triangular indentations 20a next to the trapezoidal indentation 19a is shallower than that indentation in the sense that its base is nearer the frame 1. This is best shown in FIGURE la. Thus the string which passes through these indentations to become the upright 21 is bent through angles which are still of the order of 90 when passing from the stringed area through the indentation 19a and 20a to become the upright 21. At the other end of the same zone of angular indentations, the indentation 20b is shallower than the indentation 19 next to it, the same applies to indentations 20411, 20a2, 20:13, 20b and their neighbours. The central indentation 20c of the zone of angular indentations (these indentations 20c are those through which the successive rectangular spirals of string 22 pass) are of a depth about the same as that of the trapezoidal indentations 19.

The relative symmetry of the annulus obviously makes for ease of manufacture, particularly, the four zones of triangular indentations can be made by the same tool. The annulus 17 can be made with a curvature less than its final curvature and placed Within the frame, when it will lock itself by its resilience in the median groove of the frame.

The meeting of the ends of the annulus 17 occurs at the stay 25, which, together with the small stay 7 and the parts of the elongations 2 and 3 lying between them surrounds an area known as the heart of the racquet. The indentations at the ends of the annulus cover one another as shown at 1911, and each end is provided with an extension 26, 27 to lie along the frame and at least The end 18a which comes down from the left is twisted round the elongation 2, then the stay 25, and is finished by twisting round the elongation 3. In the same way, the end 1817 which comes from the right is twisted round the rib round the elongation 3 where the end 18a finishes, then round the stay 25, and is terminated by twisting round the elongation 2 where the end 18a passes.

The preferred method of terminating the ends of the spirals is by introducing each of them into a small tube 29, 30 that is then bent back in the form of a U on to the coil or coils passing across the angle formed between the stay 25 and the corresponding elongation. The tubes 29, 30 are therefore positioned within this angle and does not jut out beyond the contour of the racquet. The tubes 29, 30 are preferably metallic and are used with particular advantage when the material of the spiral is particularly thin or is non-metallic, and can be used whether or no the ends of the spiral have been overlapped.

This way of terminating the spiral gives the advantage of easing the stay 25 by transferring the pull of certain strings on to the roots of the elongations 2 and 3. As yet another advantage it may be mentioned that it is easier to secure a wire in this fashion than by turning and twisting it round a securing means, and the wire is less likely to break.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a racquet for tennis, badminton, squash and the like games comprising a frame having a substantially elliptical shape, a flat rigid and resilient annular member conforming in general contour with that of said frame and positioned within the frame, said member being formed with spaced serrations of generally angular shape projecting outward therefrom toward the frame, retainer means engaging the apexes of said serrations for attaching the member to the frame and racquet strings passed in engagement with said member across the bases of said serrations, the improvement consisting in varying the spacing and shape of said serrations according to their location with respect to said frame, so that the said member is provided with indentations directed toward the center of said frame having trapezoidal shapes in the regions of the ends of the major and minor axes of said frame and triangular shapes in the regions of the shoulders of the racquet, whereby the angles through which the strings are bent at their passage across the bases of said serrations may be increased.

2. A racquet as claimed in claim 1, wherein two strings pass in each said trapezoidal indentation and only one string in each said triangular indentation, said strings passing in a trapezoidal indentation from one angle of the said indentation to the adjacent angle of the next indentation whereas, in a triangular indentation, the string is bent substantially at right angles.

3. A racquet as claimed in claim 2, wherein the triangular indentations adjacent to a trapezoidal indentation are lower than said trapezoidal indentation.

4. A racquet as claimed in claim 1, wherein said frame is provided with a groove at its inner periphery, said resilient annular member being made from a length of spring wire formed with serrations and shaped into a closed loop with the endmost indentations at the ends of the length of spring wire being brought into coincidence and said ends being provided with extensions located into said groove of said frame.

5. A racquet as claimed in claim 1, wherein said retainer means comprises an elongated member wound in a substantially helicoidal fashion around said frame and reinforced along portions of the frame.

6. A racquet as claimed in claim 5, wherein said reinforcement occurs by passing more than one loop of said elongated member into selected serrations of said annular member.

7. A racquet as claimed in claim 1, wherein said frame is provided with a pair of spaced apart extensions for attachment to a handle and said retainer means comprises an elongated member wound in a substantially helical fashion around said frame, the ends of said elongated member being respectively tied to said extensions.

8. A racquet as claimed in claim 7, wherein the end portions of said elongated member are overlapped around the part of said frame comprised between said extensions with the purpose of providing a reinforcement of said retainer means.

9. A racquet as claimed in claim 7, wherein said ends of said elongated members are introduced into tubular end pieces and are bent, together with the said tubular pieces, over a neighboring part of said elongated member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,608,188 8/52 Howard.

3,07 8,098 2/63 Lacoste 273-7 3 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,260,7 15 4/61 France.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

DELBERT B. LOWE, Examiner. 

1. IN A RACQUET FOR TENNIS, BADMINTON, SQUASH AND THE LIKE GAMES COMPRISING A FRAME HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY ELLIPTICAL SHAPE, A FLAT RIGID AND RESILIENT ANNULAR MEMBER CONFORMING IN GENERAL CONTOUR WITH THAT OF SAID FRAME AND POSITIONED WITHIN THE FRAME, SAID MEMBER BEING FORMED WITH SPACED SERRATIONS OF GENERALLY ANGULAR SHAPE PROJECTING OUTWARD THEREFROM TOWARD THE FRAME, RETAINER MEANS ENGAGING THE APEXES OF SAID SERRATIONS FOR ATTACHING THE MEMBER TO THE FRAME AND RACQUET STRINGS PASSED IN ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID MEMBER ACROSS THE BASES OF SAID SERRATIONS, THE IMPROVEMENT CONSISTING IN VARYING THE SPACING AND SHAPE OF SAID SERRATIONS ACCORDING TO THEIR LOCATION WITH RESPECT TO SAID FRAME, SO THAT THE SAID MEMBER IS PROVIDED WITH INDENTATIONS DIRECTED TOWARD THE CENTER OF SAID FRAME HAVING TRAPEZOIDAL SHAOES IN THE REGIONS OF THE ENDS OF THE MAJOR AND MINOR AXES OF SAID FRAME AND TRIANGULAR SHAPES IN THE REGIONS OF THE SHOULDERS OF THE RACQUET, WHEREBY THE ANGLES THROUGH WHICH THE STRINGS ARE BENT AT THEIR PASSAGE ACROSS THE BASES OF SAID SERRATIONS MAY BE INCREASED. 